Digital Era 4Ps

There is revolutionary change in today’s retail landscape. Industry thought leaders have expressed varied points of view on the future of Shopping. As researchers and strategic advisors to a variety of brands and businesses, Decision Insight is highly vested in understanding the changing Shopper and providing guidance to optimize brands for the future – especially in light of eCommerce, mobile devices and the ever-evolving impact of new technology.

We examine the building blocks of marketing – the “Four Ps” – and their relevancy in the Digital Age. Is the overall concept of the Four Ps still relevant? Perhaps it’s the definition of each of the Ps that needs expansion. In fact, it’s quite possible that the Four Ps may be more relevant today than when they were when first conceived – nearly six decades ago.

How do basic shopper and category strategies translate to the eCommerce environment?

Consider the 4Ps of marketing and their relevancy in the online world.

Decision Insight is highly vested in understanding the changing shopper, the impact of digital on retail – and providing guidance to optimize for future opportunities. Strategic initiatives that have been effective in brick and mortar can be effective online, but they must be reimagined to work in a new, digital retail environment.

Thoroughly understanding the significance of Place, both Brick & Mortar and Online, and how the shopper interacts with them provides significant advantages – and can lead to more successful digital strategies. As eCommerce evolves, so should research around Place and today’s shopper.

In the traditional retail store, the focus is on shelf space and facings. With no physical limitations (or advantages) in the online channel, marketing focus shifts to arrangement, assortment, and taxonomy. How do you maximize your presence in an endlessly-scrolling-product-grid? There are many questions: What are the new merchandising levers to drive cross-selling, occasion/solution offers, featured items, and impulse purchases? DI has tested exciting new online strategies to build customers’ baskets and influence impulse purchasing, to understand what wins before going to market.

How pricing is presented online is often a key factor in converting sales. From bundles and SKU breadth to complementary product adjacencies, premium placement in search results, auto-fill subscriptions, and free shipping – there is much shopper confusion online and true price is often obscured. Consider just two factors – unique to eCommerce – that may wildly affect shopping behavior: “Free Shipping” and “The more you spend, the more you save.”

Without physical limitations, complementary bundles and product adjacencies that are difficult in brick and mortar (consider occasion-based destinations such as Breakfast, Super Bowl, Back to School) are reasonably simple in eCommerce. But what bundles at what prices are optimal? The options are nearly unlimited.

With Digital.IQ from Decision Insight, multiple variables may be tested simultaneously to predict the best mix of product bundles, featured items, adjacencies, and discounts. This allows the retailer and manufacturer to optimize sales, improve the shopper experience, and increase bottom line sales results.

Most product categories are heavily affected by some form of online engagement. Shoppers compare brands, features, pricing, and value online. For a new product to be successful on the eCommerce path to purchase, understanding and optimizing online promotions is a must!

Consider a beverage manufacturer developing and launching a new energy drink online, one fortified with vitamins, low on sugar, and with a great taste. What online promotion strategy would best spark new product trial — at the least cost? Would one online promotional strategy work better for one shopper segment than another? Offers can be tailored to shopper need, usage occasion, the shopper’s current basket, or past purchases.

Despite concerns in the industry of the inability to meaningfully influence impulse buying online, there are, in fact, many opportunities to drive unplanned purchases. DI has tested multiple alternative strategies to build customer’s baskets and influence impulse purchase online with much success – helping clients better understand what strategy wins before going to market.

First impressions are everything. On the shelf, the package is the introduction to the product. Online, the retail advantages of placement and context are gone: A product has only a moment to be noticed. The product image – often a single photo – must catch the shopper’s attention and drive either a click to purchase or a click to learn more. This single image is expected to clearly communicate the product’s most attractive attributes – from features and benefits to sizes and efficacy.

In online search results for Snack Bars, products are presented in various sizes and packages. An image of a single snack bar may represent a 6-pack or a 12-pack. It’s important that product images and product descriptions quickly convey the true size and form of the product. If not, the result may be loss of sales and shopper dissatisfaction.

At Decision Insight, we’ve been testing and optimizing the Four Ps for over 30 years. Our virtual research solutions deliver confidence in product development, packaging, POS and merchandising, while determining how products should be priced within context to SKUs, package size, bundles, and adjacencies — for brick & mortar and online channels.